shim<\/a> about 0.04″ (1 mm) thick (such as a non-flexible 6″ rule) between it and the outer wall of the box.\u00a0This will create a slight gap.<\/p>\nIn use, a firm sideways bump<\/strong> at the front end of the bridge, to angle it and thereby close that gap, makes it lock tightly<\/strong> to the walls of the box. An opposite bump releases it. This is quick, stable, reliable, and durable.<\/strong> If you prefer it to be less diagonal then shown here (which works well for me), use a thinner shim when attaching the front cleat.<\/p>\n![\"IMG_0982_edited-2\"](\"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_0982_edited-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The stone is held firmly in place<\/strong> on the bridge with a simple wedge system.<\/strong> Attached using SS screws, the rear cleat is at 90\u00b0 and the front cleat has an angled edge, placed to position the stone slightly toward the front of the bridge. The cleats are about 5\/32″<\/del>\u00a09\/32″ thick, which will keep them below the level of my Shapton Glass Stones for a long time.<\/p>\nThe wedge angle of 10\u00b0 works well;<\/strong> a shallower angle might make it hard to remove when wet.\u00a0 The loose wedge is 4″ long so its ends extend beyond the sides of the bridge to allow easy tapping in and removal. I usually use the blade I’m working on to tap the wedge.<\/p>\nThe cleats have been ideally placed<\/strong> for the 8 1\/4″ long stones that I use, but the loose wedge is long enough to accommodate<\/strong> stones from about 7 3\/4″ to 8 1\/2″.<\/p>\nI’ve tested the stiffness of the bridge<\/strong> by leaning on it and using a straightedge and feeler gauge. It deflects only 0.0005″ (half a thou) at most. Nonetheless, to avoid error accumulation, I flatten the stones<\/strong> while wet after use, still in position on the bridge, <\/strong>using a diamond lapping stone.<\/p>\nNext:<\/strong> I’ll describe how I use the system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The bridge gets soaked repeatedly, of course, so to avoid wood movement and distortion as much as possible, I used quartersawn mahogany and finished it heavily with polyurethane. It is 3 3\/16″ wide, 19″ long, and 1 3\/16″ thick. Aluminum or painted steel might be good alternative material, though the wood has endured very well. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-2208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jigs-and-fixtures","tag-sharpening-bench-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2208"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2217,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2208\/revisions\/2217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"IMG_0979_edited-2\"](\"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_0979_edited-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n